For Discussion: Hampton University President Bans Cornrows & Dreads Because “Martin Luther King Didn’t Wear It”… Do You Agree?

Hampton University’s business school dean is standing by a controversial ban on dreadlocks and cornrows for some students.

Male students enrolled in the school’s 5-year MBA program who take the seminar class cannot wear dreadlocks or cornrows in class.

The ban, which began in 2001, has been controversial over the years.

“I don’t think it shouldn’t matter what the hairstyle. It’s my life. I should be able to do whatever I want to do,” said incoming freshman Uriah Bethea, who wears dreadlocks and says he wouldn’t compromise his look for a class.

Dean Credle disagrees and says when people criticize the ban for denying cultural aspects of style, he believes cornrows and dreadlocks have not been a historically professional look.

“I said when was it that cornrows and dreadlocks were a part of African American history?”

Some argue that because this is a private institution they are allowed to make up these rules and standards. Don’t like it? Leave and apply to another one. However, many people can land white-collar jobs without conforming to the “European” corporate standards that Hampton has apparently adhered to. Do you think this hair rule is fair or foul?